Buddies 2
by Androclez
Summary: You've never seen Sonic & Sally quite like this before! A twisted and whimsical version of the Sonic world, featuring characters from SatAM and the video games. Includes a brief recap for new readers.
1. Chapter 1

**This being the further adventures of the zanily dysfunctional and occasionally out of character duo, Sonic & Tails.**

**Buddies ****Ⅱ**

**Adapted from the original fan comic written in 1996, this story takes up a few days from where the previous fanfic left off. Reviews are welcome. Review each chapter if you like! Express yourself. Hopefully there will be something about the story that you'll like. Or something that's so outrageous that you must protest!**

**Anyway...**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Last time, on Buddies….

_Our brave hero Sonic the Hedgehog saved the day once again, by preventing the Floating Island from crashing to the ground. With the wicked schemes of Dr. Robotik thwarted by the beloved "blue blur", peace has been restored to the planet of Mobius. After a job well done, Sonic returned home to Knothole Village, along with his bumbling but lovable sidekick Tails. Meanwhile Sonic's friendly nemesis Knuckles the Echidna was busy cleaning up the mess that was left over from their battle against Robotnik's badniks. Little did any of them realize, a new batch of trouble was brewing right inside of the cavern which held the Island's Master Emerald._

Inside the Emerald cave:

_There was a bloody mess on the floor. Sonic's short-time ally—Nack the Weasel—lay on the ground, bashed, brutalized and naked (Sonic had taken his hat and boots)._

_Unbelievably, the wounded weasel's body began to stir! He let out a groan._

"Urrghh, what hit me?" he muttered to himself.

_He slowly arose from the ground, examining himself and his surroundings._

"M-, my hat… **my **_**everything**_! It's gone!" he observed.

"Now I remember how I wound up here like this. It was that little punk, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Nack snarled, angrily.

"He took everything from me… ...everything except my violent tendencies!" he grinned, deviously.

_And so, with a burning hatred in his heart, Nack set off to the first stop on his mission of vengeance: A general store called "Good Stuff", back down on mainland Mobius. Besides being a standard grocery store, "Good Stuff" also caters to the artillery needs of miscreants and ne'er-do-wells. They're also known to sell the best fresh-baked muffins in town._

"I'll get that backstabbing traitor for sure! But first I'll have to get new equipment." Nack said to himself, while standing outside the store.

_Nack stormed through the double doors, eager to pick out the instruments of Sonic's destruction. But to his surprise he is immediately met with screams of shock and protest from the other customers._

"Hey everybody, look!" a bystander yelled.  
"It's a naked weasel!"

"What?!" another voice called out.  
"What is a naked weasel doing in here?!"

"Doesn't it know the rules?!" a third person shouts.

"Whoa!" Nack yelped, remembering his shameful state.

_He zipped out of the store, quickly._

"Looks like I'll have to find a more dignified way of getting equipped!" he reflects.

Later...

"C'mon! Please!" Nack whined.

_He is now covering his nakedness with an old broken crate and he's begging on the street while holding out an empty coffee mug._

"You there! Stranger! Won't you help a poor weasel out?" Nack pleaded to a familiar looking passerby.

"No way!" snapped the blue hedgehog.  
"I've got more sensible ways to spend my money."

"What?!" exclaimed a young two-tailed fox.  
"Gambling all your money away makes sense?"

"Stay out of this little buddy," replied the hedgehog.

"Cut me some slack!" said Nack, not quite recognizing the familiar pair.  
"I've been through a lot of rough luck lately."

"I said **no**, and that's **final**!" the blue brute roared, as he started choking Nack.

"Ughhh! What's your problem man?!" Nack wheezed.  
"Ack!"

"Get out of my sight!" screamed the quill covered maniac, as he kicked Nack and his crate into a ditch.

"Whoa! Hey, Sonic! You'd better be careful," the fox boy yelped in horror.  
"Don't let anybody see you picking on that innocent, poor guy. Think of what it'll do to your rep!"

_Just then, a small crowd of people started to gather at the scene._

"Isn't that Sonic and his little buddy Tails beating up some homeless guy?" inquired one of the people.

"Yeah, I think it is!" said another. "Why would he do something like that?"

"See?!" Tails scolded.

"I'm not beating him!" Sonic lied. "We were just joking around," he chuckled, nervously.

"Just to show you that there's no hard feelings, I'll even help him out," said Sonic, as he approached the wounded weasel.

_Nack groaned in pain as he regained consciousness._

"Let's see, what do I have for you?" Sonic asked, rhetorically, as he dug through his pockets for something to give the poor bum.

"Here, take this old junk," Sonic grumbled.

_Sonic handed over an old hat, a belt, some gloves, and a pair of boots. In fact, they were the very same ones he stole from Nack in the first place._

"This'll do for now, but it'll never replace my old stuff," Nack said, still not recognizing Sonic or his own getup.

"Whatever!" scoffed Sonic, as he walked away.

_He completely forgot his previous encounters with Nack. And given his short attention span, he'll soon forget this encounter as well._

"Hmm, wait a sec. I think there's something inside this crate that I've been living in!" observed Nack.

_He reached into the crate and pulled out a huge gun._

"Ha! What luck!" exclaimed Nack.  
"A **Sega Menacer**. Now _**this**_ is a real weapon!"

_As it turned out, this was the same gun that Nack hid inside a crate for Sonic in the previous story, when they were temporarily partners. Having reacquired his old costume and gun, Nack had come full circle and was ready to begin his quest for revenge._

"Now it's time for a hunting trip worthy of Nack the..."

_He paused mid-sentence and thought for a second._

"No, not "Nack the weasel"... I'll need a new name for this special mission. This time, I'll be "Fang". Supervillain Fang!"

_He decided that the new alias suited his clandestine quest of revenge._

"This mission has to be a surprise attack. It's so top-secret, not even _**you**_ can know about it!"

_Fang points the gun at you (the reader) and pulls the trigger!_

ZAP!...  
**BOOM!**

Hope you survived... But don't worry, it gets better.

To Be Continued.


	2. Chapter 2

**Buddies 2  
Chapter Two**

Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are the property of Sega/Sonic Team.

* * *

_Mobius' newest supervillain, Fang, has just written up a hit list based on the fuzzy memories of his tumultuous downfall._

"Target #1 on the list is Sonic the Hedgehog," Nack proclaimed. "Location is Knothole Village. I'm not good with faces but I still remember finding my way into that place. It's in the Great Forest."

_Nack sneaked through the forest and eventually reached the outskirts of Knothole Village. He crouched behind a tree so he could keep an eye out for any super fast guys passing by._

_Suddenly, he heard a girlish voice cry out from the distance._

"Hey! You cheated!"

_Nack turned around and saw a pink hedgehog girl playing cards with the two-tailed fox boy from before. Fortunately, they didn't see him._

"No way! I don't cheat," said the fox boy.  
"I don't have to cheat, 'cause Sonic taught me how to play so that I always win!"

"_**That's**_ cheating!" the hedgehog girl insisted.

"Sounds like Sonic alright," thought Nack.  
"These two must be his friends, so that means I'm getting close."

"No Amy, you just use a special technique to make sure you get the right cards," explained Tails.

"Technique? You little scoundrel!" Amy snapped, as she started chasing after Tails with a big hammer.

"I'd better keep moving," Nack said to himself.

_But before he could move on, Nack heard a voice address him from directly behind._

"Who are you?" asked the voice.

_Nack turned around and was met with an inquisitive but friendly look from a young porcupine man (Dylan)._

"I've never seen you around the Great Forest," chirped Dylan.  
"Welcome to Knot–"

**Scree-eeeee! Rata-tat, tat! Boom! BOOM!**  
_Nack whipped out the Menacer gun and unleashed a shower of laser blasts right in Dylan's face at pointblank range!_

"Arrghh!" Dylan howled in agony as he collasped to the ground.

"I don't think that guy was Sonic," Nack reflected.  
"Oh well, my cover's blown now. I'll just kill 'em all."

_Nack turned his gun scope towards the two nearest targets: A panicky looking squirrel and a partially roboticized rabbit._

ZAP! ZAP!

_He fired on them both and they went down. But it looked like they probably survived. Nack prepared to finish them off but was distracted by a loud whooshing noise and a blue zoom._

"Ah, that must be Sonic!" exclaimed Nack.  
"My rifle's computerized analysis scope shows his speed and his ego level to be off the scale!"

"Hey guys, I'm back!" said a completely oblivious Sonic.

"Yo Sonic!" Nack called out to him.  
"You're supposed to be fast, right?"

"Not supposed to be. **I **_**am**_!" replied Sonic.

"I don't think so," Nack taunted.  
"If you'd have gotten here a little quicker you might've been able to save your friends."

"Sal! Bunnie!" Sonic screamed, noticing his wounded friends.

"Guess you just weren't fast enough, eh Sonic?" laughed Nack.

"I'll show you fast!" yelled Sonic.  
_He started running around Nack in circles, at his top speed._

"Well, well, well," chuckled Nack.  
"I guess you are fast after all. It's like you're nowhere at all... or everywhere at once!"

ZAP!

_Nack fired off a random shot into the blue blur that was encircling him. ...Sonic was hit by the blast and went down instantly._

"It's all over for you now, Sonic The Hedgehog!" Nack gloated.  
"You left me to die on Floating Island, but now I'm back! You might stand a chance if this was a canon storyline, but this is fanfiction, so anything goes!"

_Nack put his finger on the trigger, and then..._

"Ssssaaaaaa-lee! Aunt Sally! Amy hit me and said I cheated at cards!" Tails shrieked.

"There's more where that came from, you little cheater!" Amy shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Yikes, what a couple of loudmouths!" exclaimed Nack, putting his fingers to his ears.  
"It's those annoying brats from before! Are they still at it?"

"Those dumb kids are so busy fighting, they didn't even notice me about to kill their hero! Which reminds me..."

_Nack aimed his gun over Sonic __**again**__, and put his finger on the trigger __**again**_

"This is it, Sonic. _**For real**_ this time."

_Nack pulled back on the trigger and...!_

CLANK!

_Nack was banged over the head with a sword by none other than Antoine D'Coolette!_

"Hmmph! _**Zat**_ ees what I call zee fast!" boasted Antoine.  
"Son-eek ze hoghedge eez nothing!"

_At that moment, Sonic the _"_hoghedge_"_ stirs awake and stumbles to his feet._

"Hmm? What's goin' on?" Sonic wondered.  
_He looked down at the defeated weasel laying at his feet._

_Suddenly a crowd of Freedom Fighters and villagers assembled._

"Yay! Sonic The Hedgehog defeated Super Villain Fang! Hip-hip-hooray!" they all shout in unison.

"But, but, but..." Antoine stammered.

"But of course!" interrupted Sonic.  
"Victory was never in doubt! After all, there is no circumstance that I can't handle," he chuckled.

_The crowd continued to cheer and Sonic leaned over to whisper something in Antoine's ear._

"Hey 'Twan, who the heck is Super Villain Fang?" asked Sonic.

"Zat guy I knocked out on ze ground, who nearly keeled you!" huffed Antoine.

"Oh right! Now I remember," said Sonic.  
"He's really just that ugly, uncool, lowdown, no good, traitorous punk Nack The Weasel! We hung out with together for a while but he was a real loser."

"What was zat?" asked Antoine.  
"You were allied to zis scabbard?"

"Nevermind that!" snapped Sonic.  
"Antoine, make yourself useful and lock this scoundrel up!"

_Antoine gathered up the unconscious weasel and carried him off to the Knothole prison cell._

Later...

"Oof!" Nack landed with a thud as Antoine tossed him into his cell and locked the door.

"Hoo boy!" Nack winced in pain.  
"What went wrong? My trusty gun, Old Bloody Faithful must have failed me."

_Nack rubbed his head and looked around at his surroundings._

"At any rate, I have another bad head injury and I'm locked up in a cell. Fortunately I'm never without a few tricks up my sleeve."

_Nack removed one of his gloves and a weird looking, shimmering key falls out._

"Behold! The Skeleton Key!" announced Nack, to no one in particular.  
"It's a mystical little trinket I picked up along my travels several years ago. A special key that changes shape to fit any lock. Pretty creepy, huh?"

_He inserted the key into the lock on his cell door and it shape-shifted until the door came open._

"Payback time!" snarled Nack, with an evil chuckle.

To Be Continued.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_A royal guardsman named James approaches Sonic to congratulate him on his latest victory in defense of Knothole Village._

"Great job defeating Super Villain Fang," said James.  
"Be sure to stop by the Central meeting Hut later. We've got a big surprise for you."

"Cool!" replied Sonic.  
But as soon as James walked away Sonic was like, "What a bunch of nerds! They think I wanna sit through one of their boring award ceremonies for my bravery. Sheesh!"

_Just then, Nack jumped from behind a bush and pointed his gun at Sonic!_

"So you thought you defeated me, did you?" Nack grinned.

"No! I'm not the one who knocked you out!" Sonic insisted.  
"It was all Antoine! Kill _**him**_!"

"You think I'm stupid, hedgehog?!" Nack roared.  
"You're not gettin' off the hook that easily."

_Nack edged closer to Sonic, keeping his gun carefully trained on him._

"I suppose this Antoine character also told you to cut ol' Nacky on the head and leave him for dead on the Floating Island, right? Well that ain't gonna..."

_Before Nack knew what was happening, Bunnie Rabbot sneaked up from behind and disarmed him!_

"Ah'll take that!" said Bunnie, as she snatched the gun out of Nack's hands.

"Drat! This one is still alive after all," thought Nack.  
"I'll have to remedy that!"

"That's it for you Nack," said Sonic. "You're going back to..."

_As Nack was putting his hands up in surrender, he quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out the axe he'd gotten from Floating Island!_

SWIPE!

_The slash connected with Bunnie!_

"Dangit! You're a dangerous lil' critter!" shrieked Bunnie.  
_Fortunately, she was able to absorb most of the blow with her robotic arm._

_Next, Nack swung a wide slash at Sonic, but Sonic was fast enough to evade the attack. However, Nack came back around with a roundhouse slash and cut Bunnie clean in half at the waist!!_

CHOP!

"Aaaahhhhhh!!" Bunnie howled.

_There wasn't too much real damage, seeing as Bunnie's lower half is robotic anyways. But she was definitely down for the count in this particular fight._

_While Nack still had the axe stretched behind himself from his attack on Bunnie, someone came from behind and took that weapon away from him too! It was Hamlin the pig!_

"Oh no, don't tell me someone has got my axe now too!" thought Nack.  
"Fortunately, Fang is always prepared!"

_Nack reached into his backpack again and pulled out a knife this time. He leapt onto Hamlin and swiftly ripped his belly open with the small blade!!_

"Rrrgghh!!" Hamlin snorted, as he was literally being gutted like a pig.

_Nack held the bloody blade over his victim and relentlessly went in for another stab! And then another! Blood dripped and spattered everywhere!_

_Where the heck was Sonic in all this?!_

"Screw this!" Sonic angrily shouted.  
"I don't need all this stress. And besides, I've got a party to go to."

ZOOM!

_Sonic fled the scene and abandoned his helpless allies on the battlefield. He headed to the Central Meeting Hut for the _"_surprise_"_ party he knew was being held in his honor._

Later...  
at the meeting/party:

_Sonic, Antoine, and several of the other royal guardsmen sat at a big table together while Sally stood on a stage in front of everyone, making a speech._

"And so, thanks to Sonic's bravery and decisive action, Bunnie and I were able to survive the attack from Super Villain Fang," said Sally.

_The Central Meeting Hut is so far from the site of Nack's massacre, that nobody realized Nack was still at large. Sonic is still the only one who knows, but he's hoping the problem will just go away somehow so he can enjoy his party._

"But what happened to Dylan?" asked Sonic.  
"You didn't say if he was okay or not. And wasn't he roboticized in the last story anyway? What's up with that?"

"Ahem! We are all gathered here today to honor Sonic's years of service on behalf of the Freedom Fighters," Sally continued, ignoring Sonic's awkward questions.

"Yeah, but what happened to Dylan?!" Sonic interrupted.

"We found a way to deroboticize Dylan but he died in the last attack because the doctors were too busy treating royalty's wounds! OK?!" Sally roared.  
"Now shut up and let us honor you!!" she screamed as she pulled out her handgun and fired several shots at Sonic.

POP-POP-POP!

"Yow!" yelped Sonic, as he quickly dodged the shots.

"Now for the special surprise!" announced James, standing at a podium.  
"Come on up and accept your prize Sonic."

_Sonic warily stepped up to the podium, while keeping an eye on the unpredictable Princess. James presented him with a case._

"Go ahead and open it," James offered, cheerfully.

_Sonic opened the case, and inside he found a royal guardsman uniform._

"Congratulations Sonic!" chirped Sally. "We're officially promoting you to a full fledged royal guardsman."

"Welcome to the guard Sonic!" said James, as royal guardsman Peter was outfitting Sonic with his new uniform.

"And along with your new rank, you get to be a personal flunky of Princess Sally," said James, forcing a smile.  
"You will also be held to all of our rigid procedures in engaging the enemy."

"Oh goody, what else do I get?" Sonic sneered, sarcastically.

"Our strict code of conduct will govern your every action in daily life, and you actually have fewer rights than an ordinary citizen," explained James.

_Though James still wore his false smile, a tear could be seen trickling from his eye. It was clear to see that the life of a royal guardsman was a hard one._

"Well I say this is bogus!" Sonic protested.

_Gasps of shock could be heard all through the room as Sonic started to spin around in a circle at super speed until all of his clothes flew from his body._

"Sorry guys, but Sonic The Hedgehog could never live a life like that!" Sonic proclaimed.  
"And besides, I'll _**never**_ wear clothes!"

_Shouts of protest rang out from the others._

"Arrest him!"

"Lock him up!"

"Keel him!" (from D'Coolette)

_They wasted no time in seizing Sonic and having him secured in restraints; as Princess Sally would expect no less. He was strapped to the wall with a metal bar across his chest, his hands bound above his head, and of course his feet were tightly cuffed at the ankles._

_A prejudiced jury was hastily assembled and Sonic was immediately put on trial. Sally's handheld computer, Nicole read off the charges._

"Sonic The Hedgehog has been charged with disrespecting Princess Sally and the slave uniform of our royal guard. The honorable Princess Sally Acorn is presiding as Judge, Prosecutor, and star witness. Additional charges include public indecency, disrupting an official meeting and..."

_Before Nicole could finish, a loud CRASH was heard at the window as Nack leapt through!_

"Grrrrr!!" Nack growled as he fired off a shower of random shots throughout the room.

BANG!

POW!

BLAST!

"Ow-oui!" Antoine yelped, as he took a shot in the side. His toupee flew off his head as he collapsed.

_Nicole was blasted right out of Sally's hand! Sally took one in the shoulder too._

"Ah!" she groaned as she went down.

_The other guardsmen in attendance all took hits as well. Then Nack turned towards the helpless Sonic and focused all his shots on him._

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

_All the shots missed Sonic's body and landed on his restraints; setting him free!!_

"Phew!" Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as he sunk to his knees in shock.

_Nack mistakenly assumed that Sonic had been hit with some of the shots and he slowly approached to gloat over Sonic._

"You could have at least spared your friends if you had surrendered in the first place," Nack grinned.  
"Now it's all over!"

_Sonic was still a bit disoriented from the force of the blasts, even though he hadn't been hit directly. Fortunately, Sonic didn't need to act just yet, because a pink ball suddenly bonked Nack on the back of his head!_

"Ow!" Nack yelled, as he fell on his face. His gun cracked in half under his own weight.

_When the pink ball ricocheted off from Nack, it unfurled and revealed itself to be Sonic's #1 fan, Amy Rose!_

"Ouch, that hurt!" cried Amy, as she tumbled to the ground.  
"I don't know how Sonic does it," she muttered dizzily.

"My Menacer!" Nack cried.  
"I can't believe crafty ol' Nack the weasel was ambushed by a little girl. Think what the boys back home would say."

_While Nack was licking his wounds, Sonic jumped from the floor and grabbed hold of him! As Sonic reared his fist up to punch him in the face, Nack reached into his backpack._

"Better do something fast!" thought Nack. "He's almost got me, but old Fang is never without a..."

WHAP!

"_Fang" wasn't fast enough! Sonic busted him right in his lip._

"Oof!" Nack grunted.

POW!

_Sonic landed another solid blow in Nack's face as his fist was well stained with the weasel's blood._

"Argh!" Nack groaned.

_Nack was finally able to reach his backpack and pull out the axe. But before he could do anything with it, Sonic snatched it out of his hand and cut him with it!_

"Ow!" Nack huffed. "Never... without a..."

_Sonic leapt high in the air so he could come down with a crushing death blow, using the axe. But as he was coming in for the kill, Nack whipped out his knife and stuck Sonic in the gut!_

"Aaaahhck!" Sonic groaned.

_Just then, Tails happened to be flying by. Sonic called out to him._

"T- Tails!" gasped Sonic.

"Sonic!" Tails cried in horror.

"Run Tails!" shouted Sonic. "Er, I mean fly! Go get help little bro!"

"Right Sonic!" replied Tails.

_He took off._

"Huff, huff, huff," Tails panted.  
"At the rate I'm going, Sonic will never get help in time! I'd better pick up the pace."

_Tails pushed ahead as fast as his furry little behind would carry him._

To Be Continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

_

* * *

_

The Freedom Fighters and the entire Royal Guard have been incapacitated by the villainous Nack the weasel. Tails has set off in search of reinforcements to aid his injured friends.

"I know just who to turn to!" said Tails, as he flew off into the distance.

_Before long, he had reached the Floating Island. He spotted a purple chameleon down below, on the island shore._

"Hey, do you know a guy named Knuckles the Echidna?" asked Tails.

_The startled chameleon looked up as Tails came in for a landing._

"You know, the Guardian?" Tails continued.  
"I need to speak with him right away! It's important."

Meanwhile...

_Sonic is still in a struggle with Nack. Sonic is now armed with the knife Nack had stabbed into him earlier, but the wily weasel is well prepared._

"Always a backup!" Nack said, as he reached into a pouch and pulled out a small handgun.

Bang, BANG!

_Nack fired off a few rounds as Sonic ducked for cover. Nack didn't see where he had hidden._

"I'm gonna getcha, hogboy!" Nack threatened.

_Nack crept through the room looking for Sonic, but he passed by the spot where Sonic was quietly hiding._

"Come on out and face me!" Nack demanded.

"Sure thing!" Sonic yelled, as he dashed out from his hiding place and jumped on Nack's back.

"Hey!" screamed Nack. "What're you-?!"

Rrrrip!

_Sonic stabbed the knife into Nack's side and cut his liver out!!_

"Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh!" Nack hollered. He struggled to reach behind himself and shoot Sonic off his back.

BANG!

_The shot only grazed Sonic, but it gave Nack enough time to scoop his liver up from the ground and retreat._

"This isn't over hogboy!" Nack moaned, as he backed away from the scene with his gun pointed at Sonic.

BANG! BANG! Zzzap!

_Nack fired off a few more shots at the hut as soon as he was a safe distance away. The hut caught afire and collapsed! Sonic and company were still inside…_

Later:

Back on the Floating Island...

Inside the Master Emerald Chamber:

_Knuckles was busy working out. He was pounding away at his "Sonic The Hedgehog" punching bag. It seems he still held a grudge from his tumultuous encounter with Sonic in the previous story._

_Suddenly Knuckles heard one of his friends' voice call down to him from a tunnel above the cave._

"Hey Knuckles!" said the purple chameleon.

"What's up Espio?" Knuckles replied, still tearing into the punching bag.

"There was this funny looking creep snooping around the island, looking for you," said Espio.

"He-hee!" Knuckles squealed with sinister anticipation.  
"It's probably Sonic. I've been waiting for him to show his face around here again! Where is this creep?"

"You said to beat up all strange looking strangers and bring them to you, so here he is!" said Espio.

_Espio dangled a punch-drunk Tails down through the cave entrance and let him drop._

Bang, whap, wham! CRASH!

_Tails took a harsh tumble and finally crashed down below with a thud._

"Ow,ow,ow,ow,ow!" Tails whined.

_Knuckles looked down on him with disappointment._

"Oh, it's only you," said Knuckles. "Where's Sonic?!"

"He's in trouble!" said Tails.  
"He's being attacked by Nack the weasel... you gotta help!"

"Okay, I'll help!" said Knuckles.

"Really?!" said Tails, happily.  
"I'm so glad Knuckles! You're the only one I could turn to"

"Of course I'll help!" replied Knuckles.  
"It'll take more than some weasel to put that fiend away for good! Besides, I want a piece of Sonic too!"

"No,no,no!" cried Tails.  
"I was asking you to _**help**_ Sonic!"

"Oh, I'll help him alright... right into his grave!" roared Knuckles.  
"Don't try to stand in my way!"

"Please Knuckles! Don't hurt Sonic!" Tails pleaded on his knees with outstretched hands.

"Move it!" snapped Knuckles, as he kicked his foot right into Tails' face.

"Oof!" Tails grunted as he fell onto his two-tailed butt.

_Knuckles stormed off, determined to find Sonic even if he had to sniff him out by the scent of his blood._

_But Tails was just as determined to prevent him! He rolled up into a furry ball-attack of his own and bonked Knuckles on the head!_

BONK!

"OW!" Knuckles yelled.  
_He reached back and flung Tails off of himself. Tails crashed into the hard cave wall!_

"Ah!" Tails shrieked.

"And if that wasn't enough to getcha... eat this!" screamed Knuckles, as he picked a stone up from the ground and hurled it at Tails.

_Tails saw the large rock zooming towards him, so he revved up his tails and blew a big gust of wind that sent the rock careening back at Knuckles!_

WHAM!

_The rock struck Knuckles directly in his head. He fell backwards, accidentally knocking the Master Emerald off its podium. The emerald rolled away and fell down the emergency exit at the bottom of the cave!!_

"Knuckles! Where does that emergency exit lead to?!" Tails panted.

_Knuckles didn't respond. He was unconscious._

"Guess that means I'm going in!" said Tails.

_Tails jumped down the hole in the ground. He slid down a long and winding tunnel and plummeted out the other end. As he looked down, Tails realized he was about to fall into a lava pit! He grabbed onto the wall of this new cave room and hung on for dear life!_

"Oh no, the emerald fell into the lava!" cried Tails.  
"And without the emerald, the whole island will fall from the sky!"

_The emerald started to glow in the lava down below, and several violent bursts of energy went beaming forth from the powerful gem. Some of the blasts knocked huge chunks of rock from the cave walls down into the lava._

"Hmm, maybe I can use those chunks of rock as platforms to get to the emerald," said Tails.

_He revved up his tails and drifted down to the platform. Tails carefully attached a steel clamp onto the part of the emerald that was not submerged in lava._

"Gotcha!" said Tails.

_Tails pulled on the clamp's chain and hauled the emerald back up to the surface level of the cave._

"Boy, why would someone have an emergency exit like that?" Tails wondered aloud.

_He carefully approached the Master Emerald's pedestal and gently placed it on top._

WHOOSH!

_The Floating Island halted its descent, but it didn't start rising back into the air. It stayed in place, hovering just above the ground of Mobius._

"What's wrong?" Tails wondered.  
"Did I not do it right? But I'm afraid to mess with it anymore."

_The island remained that way for the time being._

Meanwhile, in Robotropolis...

_Nack had sewn his liver back inside himself and was now setting off on a new mission. He was ready to go after the second target on his hit list._

"Here I am, in the heart of Robotropolis," Nack whispered to himself.  
"This would be suicide for amateurish fools like those Freedom Fighters! But not ol' Fang... I welcome a challenge like this."

_Nack crept along through the shadows and polluted fog of the mechanical city._

"I know Robotnik was partially responsible for my downfall back on the Floating Island," Nack muttered under his breath.  
"Some of his badniks were still on the island the last time I was there. That rotten, no-good, three-timing Sonic The Hedgehog must have been in cahoots with the eggman, even after I specifically told him not to involve Robotnik in our job!"

_Nack was getting so worked up in his anger that he was getting a bit careless. He continued stomping his way through the city._

"Things didn't go as well as I'd expected in Knothole," said Nack.  
"I gotta get me some new artillery in Robotropolis, and while I'm at it, I'll knock off the second target on my hit list.….. Robotnik himself!"

CLINK!

_Nack heard a high-pitched clinking sound. He stopped in his tracks and peeked around a corner to see what it was. He saw some Swatbots rolling dice in a game of chance. Fortunately they were too caught up in the game to notice Nack, so he fell to the ground and crawled past them._

"Phew! That was a close one," sighed Nack.  
"Better take it easy. I may be the toughest and slickest treasure hunter around, but if these bots see me... well, it'd be pretty bad!"

_Suddenly, Nack felt a laser gun pressed against the back of his head!_

"Kinda like this..." Nack grumbled, as he put his hands in the air.

_He slowly turned around to face his captor._

"Don't shoot!" said Nack. "See? I'm surrendering!"

_But even as he spoke those words, Nack reached one of his raised hands under his hat and pulled out a throwing star! He threw it into the Swatbot._

CLANK!

_The throwing star just sort of sat there in the Swatbot's chest, not doing much damage._

"Impressive, right?" boasted Nack.  
"Nobody gets the drops on me, unprepared. But that's not all there is to it!"

_BOOM! The throwing star exploded. It turned out to be a bomb. The Swatbot was destroyed... but Nack got knocked out from the force of the explosion!_

"Maybe I... outsmarted myself..." Nack groaned as he passed out.

Later...

_Nack woke up with chains tied around his arms, hanging from a prison wall. There was a turtle guy chained up next to him. The turtle spoke:_

"Oh, you're awake now," said the turtle prisoner.  
"I've been here for quite awhile myself. What's your story?"

"Unngh!" Nack grunted, as he struggled in his chains.  
"This place won't hold me for long! Not a well-trained adventurer like me!"

"Are you a Freedom Fighter?!" asked the prisoner, hopefully.  
"They've been torturing me because they think I'm a Freedom Fighter. They want info on you guys."

"I ain't no Freedom Fighter!" snorted Nack.  
"I'm Nack the we-"

_He caught himself midsentence, remembering his new alias._

"Er, I mean... the name's _**Fang**_," said Nack.  
"I can't stand the Freedom Fighters!"

_Nack enacted his plan for escape. It's ridiculously absurd and overly complicated, but here goes:_

_Nack kicked his own foot, causing a lighter to pop up from his boot. The lighter propelled high enough from his boot so that Nack was able to catch it in his mouth and turn the knob with his tongue. He used his tongue to move the fiery lighter onto his snout. Finally, he turned his snout up towards the chains binding his arms, and the flame began melting the chains away!_

**(I don't know how I thought of this crazy stuff.)**

"Very impressive!" said the turtle prisoner.  
"You know, Robotnik might be willing to make a deal with you since you're not a Freedom Fighter. I'm sure he could use a guy with your skill. Forming a temporary alliance with Robotnik might be easier than trying to escape the city right away."

"Really?" exclaimed Nack.  
"That information could be very useful to me!"

_Nack's chains finished melting, and they fell to the ground. He was free!_

"No problem," said the turtle.  
_He was feeling guilty about aiding an enemy of the Freedom Fighters…_

"I hate to do anything against the Freedom Fighters, but I'm so desperate to get out of here!" he mumbled to himself.  
At least I'll pretend to help them out until I'm in a position to get away… he thought.

"Um, Mr. Fang? Could you melt my chains too?" he chuckled nervously.

_Nack began searching the room for his belongings, but all he found was his empty backpack._

"Darn!" said Nack. "Looks like they took everything else."

"I saw them put some of your things in that hidden compartment over there," said the turtle prisoner.  
"Now if you could just take a moment to…"

"Hey, you're right!" said Nack, as he dug through the compartment.  
"Well, I guess I'm all set then. Better get going!"

_ZOOM_!  
_Nack took off so fast; you'd almost have thought he was Sonic The Hedgehog or something._

"HEY, WAIT!" yelled the turtle.  
"HEY NACK! I mean, Mr. Fang! COME BACK FANG!!" he called out after him.

_But Nack left him behind without hesitation..._

"WHY?!" screamed the turtle, as the guards came into the room for another torture session.  
"WHYYYYYYYYY??"

_Nack walked up to the wimpiest looking badnik he could find, to ask for directions. It was a Crabmeat._

"Hey, crabby!" said Nack.  
"Which way to the doc's room?"

_The Crabmeat motioned its claw towards a door that read, The Doctor is IN._

"Thanks!" said Nack. "And I expect to be shown a little more respect the next time I visit your city," he huffed.  
"I'm about to make a deal with the Doctor."

_Nack strutted towards the Swatbots who were standing guard at Robotnik's door._

"Hey, I've come to see Robotnik!" Nack shouted, arrogantly.  
"The name's Fang. I'm a VIP, so lemme through!"

"We don't know any Fang!" said one of the Swatbots.

"What about Nack?" asked Nack.

"Oh yes, you're the new prisoner!" said the Swatbot.  
"You must be here to submit for an early roboticization. Right this way."

_Nack walked into the room, ignoring their presumptuous attitude._

"Robotnik!" yelled Nack.

"Hmm?" Robotnik grunted.  
"What do you want?

"I want a deal," Nack replied.  
"I'm sure you know of my exceptional abilities by reputation. You probably have a file on the great Super Villain Fang."

"I know you're that buffoon, Nack the weasel!" snapped Robotnik.

"I guess the nickname never caught on," said Nack.  
"Anyway, I'll finish off the Freedom Fighters for you if you give me a few good weapons. I know the location of Knothole and everything! I almost had those goodie goodies beaten last time, but…"

"Very well!" interrupted Robotnik.  
"Take a few robots and go to Knothole."

"Really?!" exclaimed Nack, with stars in his eyes.  
He was finally becoming a real supervillain.

"Yes, yes!" said Robotnik.  
"Just get out of my sight! I'm busy with a new invention right now."

_Nack gathered together his troops for the mission._

Meanwhile, back on the Floating Island:

_Knuckles was still laid out on the floor from his fight with Tails.(__**!**__)  
He began to groan as he stirred back to consciousness._

"Knuckles! You're finally awake!" Tails exclaimed.  
"The island is hovering and I need to know if it's gonna fall!"

"What?!" snapped Knuckles.  
"What did you do to the emerald?! You been messin' with it boy?!"

"No!" Tails fearfully replied. "I just…!"

_Knuckles angrily pushed past Tails to examine the Master Emerald._

"I see what happened," said Knuckles.  
"Look here."

_He pointed to a little switch on the emerald's podium._

_There were several different settings the switch could be turned to; such as "Soar", "Rise", "Float", and "Hover"._

"Something must have knocked the switch into the "hover" position," explained Knuckles.  
"Oh well, I'll take care of you later fox boy. But since the island is hovering..."

_Knuckles quickly flies several feet in the air, up out of the emerald cavern. Once airborne, he glides to the edge of the island shore._

"...it'll be easier to get down to Mobius!" Knuckles continued, as he jumped down to the mainland.

"I'll pay my old "buddy" Sonic The Hedgehog a little visit!" said Knuckles, sarcastically.  
"And while I'm at it, I'll make him **pay** for all his crimes too!"

_Tails was still sitting inside the cavern in astonishment._

"Did Knuckles just fly?!" Tails exclaimed.  
"What the-?! …I thought he was only supposed to glide and climb!"

_Tails just stood there and shook his head._

"Oh well," Tails sighed.  
"Whatever fits the scene..."

To Be Continued.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"All right you bots... **FIRE!**"

Skrrree! ker-BOOM! ZAP, zap, zap!

_On Nack's order, Robotnik's badniks indiscriminately opened fire on the Great Forest, knocking down giant tress left and right._

_While all this was going on, a royal guardsman named Peter was quaking with fear inside a nearby bush. He was the lookout posted in the outskirts of the forest to give an early warning of any potential threats against Knothole._

"Hey, they're trashing the Great Forest!" thought Peter.  
"This is serious! If this attack goes on, it could eventually reach the village. Better warn the others!"

_Peter promptly left his hiding place and juiced back to Knothole as quickly as he could. He was no Sonic, but he sure was kicking up some dust as he was moving out._

Later...

_Thanks to Peter's efforts, word of the impending attack had quickly spread across the village. The men were readying themselves with Rotor's experimental new weapon, the "rock gun". __(The guardsmen had become used to the higher-tech weapons Rotor had been making for them in recent months, prior to this. So in comparison, the rock guns seemed like a step backwards.)_

"Is it true that you invented the rock guns as a cheaper alternative to our old weapons?" asked a skeptical poodle guardsman named Tom.

"Yeah, I heard you had to cut back on spending so we could afford a new golden toilet seat for the Princess!" said a cynical pelican guardsman named Ted.  
(The old seat was singed during the big fire started by Nack).

"Don't worry guys, these rock guns will work great!" said Rotor.  
"If not, we can always use the rocks to build a mass grave for all you guys. Nothing will go to waste," he assured them.

_Although he was being sincere, Rotor's well-meaning remarks actually shattered the mens' morale. A zealous, young possum Freedom Fighter named Mack decided to offer some words of encouragement._

"Come on guys, we can do this!" said the rookie Freedom Fighter.  
"Remember your pride as Royal Guardsmen, and fight for the throne of Acorn!"

"He's right," said Tom.  
"If this young pup can muster so much courage, then surely we of the Royal Guard should set a good example."

_There were grunts of assent amongst all the soldiers. They were ready to stand their ground in the coming battle, no matter what._

"The Princess also wanted me to tell you that we can reuse some of your uniforms after you get killed," said Rotor.  
"So try to get your heads blown off instead of taking body blows. That makes it easier to recycle your equipment," he explained.

"Man, shut the #X— up Rotor!" screamed Ted.  
"Don't nobody care if Sally can afford a new toilet seat!"

_Ted angrily jumped at Rotor but the other guys held him back._

"Take it easy Ted!" said James.  
"The guy's just doing his job."

"Yeah, save it for the fight!" said Tom.

_Ted bitterly calmed down and headed for the battlefield._

_Just then, Sonic zoomed onto the scene with a whooshing blue blur._

"Yeah! Now _**that's**_ what I'm talkin' about!" cheered Mack.  
"The man himself!"

_Sonic leapt into the sky and perched himself on a rock ledge; somewhat separate from the other soldiers. He loomed stoically over the rest of them as he peered off the jagged precipice into the distance._

"Why is his he just hiding up there?" Ted murmured.  
"The enemies will be here any minute!"

"That's his style!" said Mack.  
"Sonic is fast but he's also crafty in combat. He's probably sizing up the bad guys while he contemplates a strategy," he explained.

_In fact, Sonic was doing just that. Over the years he had learned not to always rush the enemy right off. The badniks soon came into view._

"Here they come," thought Sonic.  
"I guess this whole mess with Nack and Robotnik finally caught up to me," he admitted.  
"But I've got a plan this time! I'll let those Royal Guard dweebs sacrifice themselves first, like the badly dressed pawns they are. Then after they've softened up the enemy, I'll come in afterward to finish things off and take all the credit."

_Sonic had his strategy clearly in mind. The battle ensued:_

_Nack appeared over the horizon with badniks swarming all about him._

"I hope you chumps brought some 1ups! cuz you're all gonna die today!" Nack roared with laughter.

POW! POW!

_The men fired their rock guns on target!_

Crrrack! CRACK!

_The rocks crumbled harmlessly up against the _"_Crawl" badniks' shields (they can be found in the Casino Night Zone in Sonic 2). Even the badniks without shields didn't seem particularly affected by the comparatively puny pebbles._

Pow! Pow!

Crack! Crrr-umble!

"Blasted!" Tom shouted, in frustration.  
"The rock guns do _**nothing**_!"

KA-BLAM! BLAM!

_A Buzz Bomber rattled of a series of shots straight into Tom's chest!_

"Arrrgh!" Tom screamed, as he went down.

"It can't be!" cried Mack, as he valiantly rushed the enemies.

_A RhinoBot rushed right back at him in a fatal game of chicken. Its horn pierced clear through Mack's chest and out the other side!_

"Urgh!" Mack croaked, as he was skewered on the RhinoBot's horn.

"I knew it!" screamed Ted.  
"Those sons of b#+©/es sent us out here to die while they escape! I'm getting the h€Ⅱ out of here!"

_Ted took off running, but a Grounder rolled up behind him and jammed its drill-nose into his back!_

"Ahhhhrrrghh!" Ted howled.

_The Grounder's drill kept spinning and twirling it's way through Ted's back. It reached its hands around Ted's front and embraced him in a deadly hug. With its arms wrapped around Ted, the Grounder squeezed him up against its drill until it finally grinded its way through and popped out the other side._

"Ooooohhh!" Ted huffed, with his eyes bugged out.  
_He finally slumped over, silently._

"Humph!" Nack scoffed.  
"These Freedom Fighters ain't nothin'! I wonder how they lasted this long against the doc!"

_While Nack was gloating over his apparent victory, James was perched up in a tree directly behind him. James took the opportunity to jump Nack from behind, using his rock gun as a club!_

"En-guard you filthy weasel!" James yelled as he descended from the branch.  
"Hyaaaaaa!"

"Wha?!" Nack sidestepped just in time to avoid the blow!

_As soon as James landed, Nack kicked him down to he ground._

WHUMP!

"Umph!"

_James was down. Nack now leered down at him with his gun fixed on him._

"Looks like you'll be needin' them extra lives right about now boy," taunted Nack.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said James with a strange grin on his face and a devious look in his eyes.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!  
_a powerful wind swept through the forest and_ WHAM! _Sonic rammed into Nack's back with a mighty triple spin attack!_

"Oww!" Nack screamed.

_Not letting up, Sonic continued his buzzsaw assault by cutting vicious circles all around Nack's body!_

BuzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!! WHIRRRRR! RIP! SHRED! TEAR!

"Ahhhhh! Noo! Ouch! Wha...! Arrghh!" Nack howled in misery.  
"Make it stop! Make it stop!"

WHACK! SLICE! Rrrrip!

_Sonic finally came out of the spin, with a thoroughly bloodied Nack laid out on the ground before him._

"Sss...Sonic The Hedgehog!" gasped Nack. "Impossible! I killed you!"

"You **thought** you had!" replied Sonic.  
"Did you actually believe those little scrapes would do me in?"

"But the hut burned down with most of you stooges still in it!" Nack pointed out.

"You underestimated me!" said Sonic.  
"Didn't you learn anything from our previous encounters? Remember Floating Island?" asked Sonic," with a smirk.

"I remember!!" called a voice from behind them.  
"And I see you two are back together again!"

"Hm?!" Sonic grunted, as he turned to face the speaker. _But instead, all he got was a face-full of fist!_

WHAMO!

"Ow!" yelped Sonic, as the fist ripped across his face.

"That's right, it's me! …Knuckles The Echidna!" declared Knuckles.  
"And by the way, **that** was for trespassing! And _**this**_ is for nearly trashing the whole place!"

POW!

_Knuckles slugged another good one on Sonic, sending him hurtling into a tree._

KER-rrrrrash!

_Sonic hit the tree with such force that it cracked in half and tumbled over on top of him!_

WHAM!

_But Knuckles wasn't done with him yet. He walked over and moved the tree off of Sonic._

"It's just like you to run away from a fight like this Sonic," he said.  
"Looks like you crashed into a tree, trying to escape. Here, let me help you up."

_Knuckles lifted the delirious Sonic up a bit._

"While I'm at it, let me also help you to a metamorphic Knuckles-Klunk!"

_Knuckles' fist instantly morphed into a huge hammer and klunked Sonic over the head!_

KLUNK!

"Oof!" gasped Sonic, as he went right back down to he ground.

"And **that** was for bringing your filthy pal Nack to my island, mon!" said Knuckles. (suddenly Jamaican??)

"And speaking of Nack..." continued Knuckles.

"Th... the name's Fang..." Nack weakly coughed from his bloody puddle on the ground.

"Whatever your name is, you deserve a good thrashing too!" growled Knuckles.

"B, but... I already paid my due!" Nack muttered weakly.  
_He was almost in tears._

"Wha?..." Knuckles gasped, in sudden realization of Nack's battered state.  
"Ohhh man! What happened to you?!" he frowned.

_Knuckles hadn't payed any attention to what was actually going on before he busted onto the scene. He only had revenge on his mind at the time, and hadn't noticed Sonic ravaging Nack._

"Who did this to you?!" Knuckles asked in horror.  
But by this point, Nack was unable to answer.

"Well, I feel sorry for you but..."

SMASH! MANGLE!

_Knuckles started whooping on Nack anyway!!_

"...I still need to get _**my**_ piece after all," said Knuckles, in a forced rage.

CLOBBER! WHAP!

"O.K. that's it," said Knuckles. "I'll ease offa you now…"  
"Aw naw! He's hurt **bad**!" exclaimed Knuckles.  
"He's unconscious now, so I better leave him here to rest in peace."

_Knuckles covered Nack up with a tarp._

"This is disgusting!" Knuckles declared.  
"But what can I say? All infractions against the guardianship must be punished."

_He looked down at Nack's nearly lifeless body. Was it actually possible to live through something like this?! Knuckles just shook his head._

"Sonic must have done this!" Knuckles concluded.  
"He probably attacked his own partner over some squabble, but he went too far. Poor guy..."

"Wait! What am I saying?!" Knuckles asked himself.  
"I'm the vicious and unreasoning Guardian of the Floating Island, right?!"  
"Anyway, I'd better get back to Sonic. He's the one who really has it coming!"

_Knuckles trotted back towards Sonic, who was just waking up again. Knuckles morphed his fist into a giant ax._

"Hey Sonic!" called Knuckles. "I'm comin' at ya with an ax the size of Sally's head!"

"Knuckles, wait!" yelled Sonic, as he sat up.

WHACK!

_Knuckles cut a big gash into Sonic's gut and all across his chest before Sonic could say anything else._

"That's right! Might as well make it the death penalty for you!" said Knuckles.

_Knuckles knelt over Sonic; admiring his own handiwork._

_Just then, Tails arrived on the scene._

"Hey Sonic, guess what?!" said Tails.  
"Knuckles is planning to stop by, so you'd better watch out for..."

_That's when Tails noticed what had gone on._

"Whoops. Looks like I'm too late," Tails sighed dejectedly.

"Sorry kid," said Knuckles.  
"As you can see, Sonic has already gotten a good taste of my wrath."

_Tails just stood there silently. He started to look dejected and depressed, but instead of getting sad, he got mad!_

"You idiot!!" Tails growled as he propelled himself towards Knuckles with his tails.

_In a split second, Tails was on him! He socked Knuckles in the jaw with all his might!_

POW!

"Oof!" huffed Knuckles, as the blow sent him stumbling backwards.

_But the punch wasn't enough to knock him off his feet! Knuckles revved up his fist and hit Tails with a powerful uppercut._

WHAM!

_Tails was propelled up into the sky by the powerful punch. He can barely even get that high by flying!_

_Sonic became angered to see anybody besides himself roughing up Tails. He mustered the strength to lift himself from the ground and attack Knuckles!_

ZOOM!

_Sonic zipped around Knuckles in a blur of circles as he kept landing small hits against the echidna._

"Ow!" Knuckles yelped. "_**Hold**__..._ Ow! _**Still, you**__..._ Ow!"

_Although Sonic was weak, he riddled Knuckles with so many quick blows that he eventually wore him down. Sonic capped off the frantic assault, pinning Knuckles to the ground by grinding into his back with a spin attack!_

"Aaaghh!" Knuckles screamed.  
"Get offa me!"

_Finally, when Sonic tired of the spin attack, he knocked Knuckles over into a nearby pond with a supersonic kick!_

WHAP! ...SPLASH!

_Knuckles splashed into the water, and he was out cold._

"Well that takes care of the echidna," said Sonic.

"But the war still rages on!" exclaimed Tails.  
"Look!" he said, pointing to the sky.

_Up above, one of Robotnik's airborne units was dropping a metallic case down right over the spot where they were standing!_

"It, it's a..." Tails stammered.

"It's a bomb!" said Sonic.  
"C'mon little bro, let's juice!"

_Sonic grabbed ahold of Tails' arm, revved up those famous feet of his, and got the heck out of there!_

_**ZOOM!**_

**KA-BOOM!**

_Sonic & Tails narrowly escaped. Sonic found a seemingly safe spot and took a breather to regain his waning strength._

"Phew! That was a close one," said Sonic, as he knelt on the ground.

"Ah!" Tails abruptly screamed.  
"There's another one!" he yelled, pointing upwards again.

"Uh oh!" said Sonic., as he grabbed Tails' arm and took off again.

**KA-BLOOEY!**

_Sonic ran all the way to the Knothole Infirmary, where all the Freedom Fighters who were injured in Nack's first two attacks were resting._

"I'm glad to see that there were so many survivors from last time," said Tails.  
"I was really worried while I went for help."

"Nack burned down the Central Meeting hut, but I was able to move everybody out in time," explained Sonic.  
"Even Nicole!"

_Sure enough, the handheld computer was resting on her charger right alongside the other Freedom Fighters who were resting in their beds._

"Seems like this is the only safe place left," said Sonic.

ZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzap!

_An electric bolt shot Sonic in the back just as he spoke those words!_

"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed.  
"Looks like _**no**_ place is safe anymore!"

_Tails ducked to the floor to avoid getting shot himself! Then he crawled across the room and grabbed...a mirror!_

_The Swatbot who zapped Sonic entered further inside the infirmary hut. He aimed his arm cannon at Tails and fired!_

ZAP!

_But Tails deflected the beam with his mirror!_

Skreeeeeee!

_The beam came back on the swatbot and fried his circuits!_

Meanwhile:

Back on the ravaged battlefield in the outskirts of The Great forest...

_Robotnik himself has arrived on the scene to see how the battle is going. He finds many casualties among both the Freedom Fighters and his Badniks. Nack—of course—was down as well. A Rhinotaur came to report to Robotnik._

"Just look at how good we did Doctor!" the RhinoBot exclaimed.  
"I got a Freedom Fighter's heart skewered on one of my horns! ...and another's liver skewered on the other horn! Ha ha!"

"Ah yes, very good," said Robotnik.  
"You've done excellently but..."

_Robotnik quickly whipped out a laser gun and blasted the RhinoBot into pieces!_

BOOM!

"...now that I have completed my latest invention, I won't need you killing any more Freedom Fighters!"

"Whadya mean doc?" asked a Coconuts badnik.

"Behold!" exclaimed Robotnik.  
"My Portable Roboticizor has been perfected! Now I'll make the remaining Freedom Fighters into my slaves!"

_As Robotnik continued his trek through the Great Forest in search of more Freedom Fighters, Tails was still busy defending all of them._

Just outside of the infirmary...

_Tails was standing his ground in the doorway of the infirmary. As swatbots approached, Tails kept skillfully deflecting their own beams right back at them._

Zap, zap, zap!

Skree, skree, skreeeee!

Ka boom, boom, BOOM!

_Swatbots were lying in smokes all around the hut._

"Alright! This is kinda fun!" said Tails.  
"Just call me the two tailed slugger!"

_Suddenly a scoreboard appeared in the background that read: "__**Tails-12, Dumbots-0"**__. Tails was in a jersey and he was swinging that little mirror like a baseball bat!_

WHAP!

_Tails knocked another one out of the park; destroying the last couple of Swatbots!_

"All right!" Tails exclaimed.  
"Just wait'll the others see what I did to protect all of them! They'll be so proud!"

_But it wasn't over yet! Tails searched the perimeter to make sure there were no more baddies. He spotted a weird tangle of wires bunched up at the back of the infirmary._

_IT WAS A TIME-BOMB!_

"Oh no!" screamed Tails.  
"I gotta do something!"

_Tails quickly fetched his tool kit and went to work on the bomb._

SNIP! Twist, pop!

_Tails clipped wires, turned screws, and removed sections in his effort to render the bomb harmless. His brow dripped with sweat as he nervously snipped the last wire._

CLIP!

_The bomb was successfully defused._

"Whew!" Tails sighed with relief.  
"That was a close one! Guess those bots weren't as dumb as I thought they were. They had a backup plan."

_Tails was beginning to settle down from the harrowing predicament. Then something occurred to him:_

"What about the roof?!" Tails shouted, excitedly.

_He flew up to the top of the building and realized his dreaded fear._

"There's a second bomb!" he screamed.  
"No time to defuse this one! Gotta take a chance at moving it and tossing it somewhere!"

_He carefully lifted the maniacal looking mass of metal and wires and transported it as gently and quickly as he could away from the infirmary. At last, he couldn't wait any longer so he tossed it as far as he could._

_**Krrrrrrrack-a-BOOOOOOOM!!**_

To Be Continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**Final Chapter**

* * *

_As the dust cleared, Tails headed back to the infirmary to make sure the others were all right. He settled Sonic into one of the infirmary beds and treated his wounds. Then Tails just stood guard and waited for the others to wake up, secure in the knowledge that he had competently done his duty as a fellow Freedom Fighter._

_Sally and the others gradually stirred back to activity. Unfortunately the village had been wrecked in the conflict between Tails and the bots. When the others finally came to, they were devastated by the collateral damage that resulted from Tails' brave fight._

"Just look what a mess you made while we weren't watching you!" Sally yelled.  
"I can't take my eyes off you for a second without you trashing the place! How could you do this Tails?!"

_Unbelievably, she blamed Tails for the whole disaster!_

"But I saved the village while you were all resting!" Tails explained.  
"I wiped out fourteen swatbots all by myself! And I disposed of two bombs! Doesn't that mean anything?!"

"Eet means sometheeng alright!" said Antoine.  
"Eet means zat you are zee li-ar! Ze liar _**and**_ ze hood-lum!"

"But it's true!" insisted Tails.  
"Sonic and I did the best we could!"

"That reminds me," said Sally.  
"Sonic isn't off the hook either! I'm putting you both on trial!"

Later...

_A new courtroom was hastily assembled for Sonic & Tails' trial. The two of them were handcuffed and Tails was also tailcuffed. It was totally unnecessary since Sonic was still too weak to put up a real struggle and Tails was too law abiding to attempt anything._

_Nicole was on-hand as courtroom stenographer again, but she required extensive repairs to become fully functional. There was little time and Sally was very anxious to get the trial underway. So instead of properly fixing Nicole, Rotor just niggerigged her enough to function at the trial._

"Here Sally," said Rotor as he handed the handheld computer to the mentally ill Princess.  
"I know you need Nicole to read off the verdict, so I tried to fix her as fast as possible."

"How functional is she?" asked Sally.

"I was only able to get her voicebox to say one word for now," Rotor explained.  
"But fortunately it's the only word you'll want her to say in this case."

_Nicole started to buzz and click a little bit and repeatedly began shouting the same word over and over:_

"Guilty!"_-CLICK!-_"Guilty!"_ whrrrrr..._"GUILTY! Guilty!"

"Excellent!" Sally squealed with delight.

_Without further ado, the trial ensued..._

"Sonic The Hedgehog..." began sally.  
"You are charged with attempting to escape your first trial. You also have the addition charge of succeeding to escape from your first trial. How do you plead?"

"This is bogus!" yelled Sonic.  
"The trial was _stupid_ in the first place! And the only reason I escaped was because the courtroom was _destroyed_ by Nack the weasel! And anyway, how can it be two separate charges?!"

"As the Prosecutor, I object to your emotional outbursts!" said Sally.  
"And as Judge I sustain the objection!" she declared. "Another outburst like that and I'll hold you in contempt of court!"

_Next she turned towards Tails._

"And you, Miles Prower," she began.  
"You are charged with engaging in activities which ultimately resulted in damage to Knothole property. How do you plead?"

"Do the circumstances of those actions matter at all?!" Tails asked, imploringly.

"Don't make this any harder on yourself than it needs to be," warned Sally.  
"You know I don't want to do this to you guys, but official procedures must be recognized."

"You _**totally**_ want to do this!" yelled Tails.  
"And I seriously question the orthodoxy of these proceedings!"

"Very well," said Sally.  
"I shall consider all these factors while I deliberate as a member of the jury."

"Like that for example!" said Tails.  
"The prosecutor can't also be the judge, let alone the jury!!"

_Sally ignored him as she went to convene with her thugs._

"Okay," said sally.  
"You guys ready to send this fools up the river?"

"Down weeth ze tray-tors!" said D'Coolette.

"As you wish your majesty," said James, unenthusiastically.

_There were nods of approval or consent from all the remaining guardsmen on the jury._

"Ooo, this is always my favorite part!" Sally giggled with girlish glee.  
"Let's have Nicole announce our verdict."

Sally began the announcement by saying:

"We the lady and attendants of the jury find the defendants Sonic & Tails..."

_Then she stepped over to Nicole and pushed the "on" button. _

"Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!" said Nicole.

"That's it!" said Sally.  
"You heard Nicole. Remove these fiends!"

_Suddenly Rotor stepped up._

"But _**why**_, Princess Sally?" asked Rotor.  
"Sonic & Tails aren't really fiends!"

"Oh??" asked a bewildered Sally.  
"They're not?"

"No!" said Rotor as he forcefully grabbed ahold of Sally's arm.  
"But **_I _am**!" he cackled dementedly.  
"Mwa, ha haa!"

_Rotor continued to laugh maniacally as he drug Sally out of the room._

"What the he–...?!" Sally stammered, confusedly.  
"Aw well, this must be another of Rotor's jokes," she decided.

_The guardsmen started motioning towards Rotor to apprehend him and free Sally._

"Don't mind me," said sally.  
"Just get rid of Sonic and Tails!"

_Most of the guards didn't really care all that much anymore so they just obeyed._

"Come on you two!" said James, as he led Sonic & Tails away.  
"Let's get this over with!" he said.

_Escorted by James, Antoine, and a couple other guards, Sonic & Tails were taken to the deepest, darkest corner of the Great Forest._

"Just where are we going?" asked Tails.

"To The Land of Misfits," James replied.  
"It's where condemned Mobians are banished as punishment."

_Eventually they reached their final destination. There was even a big sign painted above that entrance which read "The Land of Misfits". Sonic & Tails were both shoved in. Much to his surprise, Antoine D'Coolette was shoved in right along with them!_

"What eez zis?!" asked a stunned Antoine.

"Sorry pal," said James.  
"I had special orders to lock you up too."

"But why?!" asked Antoine.  
"I have keesed up to zee Prinzess more than anyone!"

"That may be part of the reason why," said James.  
"She likes absolute obedience, but she doesn't like it if you seem to enjoy it too much."

"Ees zis true?!" asked Antoine.

"Actually, I think she just didn't like your toupee," admitted James.

_James locked the gate and left all three of them there._

"Oh no!" said Antoine.  
"Locked up in zee land of meesfeets with Sonic zee hoghedge!"

_Antoine fainted._

Meanwhile...

_Robotnik is still roving through the forest, looking for new victims to test his portable roboticizor on. Currently he's drifting above the treetops inside his eggomatic hovercraft. He spots something of interest..._

"Ah! There looks like some suitable targets down below!" said Robotnik.

_He activates the device, sending a concentrated wave of energy flowing onto two unsuspecting plain-clothes Freedom Fighters, instantly roboticizing them both!_

"Hmm, not bad!" said Robotnik, appraising the effectiveness of his latest gadget.  
"But those two were just nobodies... probably both named "Joe" or something generic like that. But at least I know I'm getting close to the secret village. I'd better press on to see if I can catch some main-characters wandering about."

_Just then, Sally happened to be in her hut observing the whole incident through her telescope. She saw the two nondescript Freedom Fighters get roboticized but she didn't see how it happened. Robotnik was not in view of her scope._

"Oh no!" Sally cried.  
"Joe was just roboticized! And so was Joe! How could this happen?!"

_Sally thought about it for a second._

"But, who cares?" she asked rhetorically.  
"I never really liked Joe anyway! Or Joe for that matter!"

"I care!!" snapped Walter.  
"Joe was my brother ya know!"

"Which one?" asked Rotor, with a smirk.

"**It.** _**Doesn't.**_ _**Matter!**_" Sally roared, as she lividly hopped into the air with steam shooting out of her ears in anger.  
"DESTROY THIS FOOL!" she commanded, impatiently.

"Sure, it'd be my pleasure!" said Rotor, jumping at the opportunity to be the executioner.

_He seized Walter._

"C'mon Walter, let's go to my lab!" Rotor snickered.

_Walter was taken off to his doom for talking back to Sally. Rotor was somewhat notorious for "accidentally" harming people in his bizarre laboratory experiments. It wasn't clear exactly what he had in mind this time, but the results would surely prove fatal, considering Sally's order._

Meanwhile, Robotnik was engaged in some experiments of his own.

"This newest ronoticizor isn't limited by the size of a roboticization chamber like the old one," he thought to himself.  
"I wonder if I could roboticize something as big as a tree?"

_Robotnik swooped over a tree in his eggomatic. He cranked on the roboticizor and..._

ZAP!

_As he kept the beam concentrated on the target, the tree was gradually transformed into a robot!_

"Fascinating!" declared Robotnik.

_The tree went tromping through the forest, cutting down obstacles with its bladelike leaves. Eventually it made its way near the vicinity of Rotor's hut. Several of its stray, leaf-blades shot through Rotor's roof, into his lab!_

_Peter was now at the helm of Sally's telescope, and he saw the strange objects crashing through Rotor's roof, although he didn't see the source._

"H, hey! Princess Sally!" squawked Peter.  
"Something just crashed into Rotor's place! There are holes in the roof and everything. Should we declare a state of emergency?!"

"You buffoon!" snapped Princess Sally.  
"If anything strange is going on at Rotor's place, it's probably just another one of that freak's inventions. Nothing to be alarmed about."

"No! Noooooooooo!"

_Suddenly they both heard a chilling scream of sheer horror come from Rotor's hut._

"Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

_Peter couldn't help but smile a bit, since this seemed to prove him right._

"So I'm a buffoon, am I?" asked Peter, sarcastically.  
"Those screams must mean something, right?"

_Sally just stood there looking stunned for a moment. Then suddenly, she brightened._

"Oh goody!" she squealed.  
"Somebody just died at Rotor's place! Let's check it out!"

_She took off out the door, with her princess-cape trailing behind her. She wore her crown on her head and her fancy boots on her feet._

"I got all dressed up for a nice evening at Rotor's place, but it sounds like he's gone and started the fun without me!" said Sally, as she hurried along.

_She quickly reached her destination and burst through the door excitedly._

"Rotor! Rotor!" she panted.  
"What'd I miss?!"

"Oh it's no big deal," said Rotor, dejectedly.  
"It's only Walter… He's dead."

_Indeed. Walter's headless corpse was chained to the wall, and he had clearly been decapitated by one of the stray blades that shot through Rotor's roof._

"You sound so disappointed," Sally observed.

"It's just that I was really lookin' forward to doing some real creepy experiments on good ol' Walter—for science, of course—but now he's already dead."

"Oh, is that all?" asked Sally.  
"Your victim died too soon? Don't worry big guy, I'll just give you a new one and make it all better."

_She cheerfully turned towards Peter._

"Oh Peter!" she chirped.  
"Give up one of your men to Rotor."

"Uh, yeah..." said Peter.  
"Whatever you say! (gulp)."

_He was relieved that he wasn't the one chosen to die this time, but the whole thing still creeped him out._

_James was seized and handed over to Rotor as an offering._

"Thanks!" said Rotor.  
"James here will do nicely in place of Walter."

_But even as Rotor thanked Sally so gaily, he had a look in his eyes that said she would be the next victim one day._

"Well Rotor," said Sally.  
"…enjoy!"

_She was happy to play along with Rotor for now, but she was secretly thinking that he scared even her sometimes._

_Sally turned and looked out the window. The robotic tree was now directly outside of Rotor's house._

"How interesting," said Sally.  
"A mechanical tree!"

"But Princess! Its destroying the forest!" exclaimed Peter.

"Silence!" Sally snapped. But then she realized that something really should be done about the monstrous tree.

"Er, Rotor... Temporarily release James so he can stop that tree," she instructed.

_They turned James loose and he dutifully confronted the tree robot. He whacked against it with his sword, but he wasn't doing much damage against the metal armor of the tree._

Meanwhile:

Inside a certain pond...

"Ohhhhh..." groaned Knuckles.  
"What happened?"

_He sat up in the shallow pond and started rubbing his aching head. Suddenly he heard a soothing voice call out to him._

"Take it easy, Red Sugah!"

"_**Red**__ Sugah_?" Knuckles repeated, in confusion.

_He looked up to face the person who was addressing him. Or at least, half a person anyway. It was the half rabbit, half robot "Bunnie Rabbot"._

"Ya'll are in a heap a trouble Mr. Echidna," said Bunnie, as she extended a helping hand to lift Knuckles out of the pond.

"Huh?" asked Knuckles.

"See this big 'ol mess all around you?" asked Bunnie, directing Knuckles' attention to the ravaged battlefield of broken Badniks and fallen soldiers.

"People are saying you're the one who started all the trouble in these parts," she explained.  
"So 'ah am gunna be forced to take you in."

_But before Bunnie could slip the restraints onto Knuckles, he took off in flight!_

"Sorry, but I've got a job to do!" said Knuckles, as he levitated above Bunnie's reach.  
"At least my fight is not with you."

"But Princess Sally ordered your arrest!" said Bunnie.

"I'm not gonna take orders from some half-wit Princess!" Knuckles said, as he soared through the sky.

"As soon as we're finished payin' fer Sally's new toilet, I'm gunna have Rotor make me some jet feet!" said Bunnie, as she snapped her finger in frustration.

_As Knuckles was flying above the treetops, he spotted Robotnik!_

"Hey, there's my old 'friend'!" said Knuckles, sarcastically.  
"You must be responsible for the bots that were trashing the Floating Island!" (in the previous fanfic).

_Before Robotnik could react, Knuckles smashed into his eggomatic, fist-first!_

BASH!

_A huge gash was torn through the motor and the eggomatic spiraled to the ground, crashing into the roboticized tree!_

Ba-Boooooooooooom!

_Rotor was watching the action from his window._

"What happened just now?" asked Sally.

"The good news is that the metal tree is gone," said Rotor.  
"Something crashed into it, causing it to explode. The only problem is that James is probably dead now, and I heard a scream coming from whatever crashed into the tree. So whoever was in it is probably dead too."

"But that's terrific Rotor!" Sally exclaimed, jubilantly.

"Are you mad?!" screamed Rotor.  
"None of this is good! Think of the loss of potential test subjects!"

"You're right Rotor, I _**am**_ mad," Sally admitted.

_They both just stood there looking at each other for a second. Then..._

"Mwah, ha, ha, ha, haaaa!" they both laughed hysterically together, realizing that they were both quite mad.

_They threw an arm over one another's shoulder and continued laughing that way for some time..._

_Knuckles continued his flight/glide over the Great Forest, in search of Sonic. He eventually spotted the big billboard sign outside of the Land of Misfits._

"Land of Misfits?" said Knuckles, inquisitively.  
"That's a likely place for Sonic to be!" he decided.

_As Knuckles descended into the Land of Misfits, he saw Sonic being pursued by a vast array of strange looking monsters of all sorts. A living vine wrapped around Sonic, preventing him from escaping as the ghouls closed in on him. But Knuckles was determined to beat them to the "punch"._

"Take this Sonic!" he roared.

_Knuckles inflated his fist until it was bigger than his own body. He crashed down on top of Sonic with the full weight of his giant fist!_

SMASH!!

_Sonic was seeing all kinds of stars as he was flattened under Knuckles' shapeshifted fist. At least the whole spectacle scared away the other monsters._

"Now I'll take you to Floating Island to be put on a real trial," said Knuckles.  
"Yeah, we'll do it all legal-like."

"Hasn't Sonic been punished enough?!" Tails angrily insisted.

"You'd better stay back if you don't want to die!" warned Knuckles.  
"Although I think it'd be more fun if you didn't," he sneered threateningly.

_Seeing that Tails wasn't going to try anything stupid, Knuckles activated his fist's shrinking mode until it was regular size again. Then he picked up Sonic._

"Shall we be going, Sonic?" he said to the unconscious hedgehog.  
"I bet you're gonna be wondering what hit ya when you wake up."

Much later:

On Floating Island...

_Getting back to Floating Island was not too difficult since it was still hovering just above the surface of the ground. Knuckles waited for Sonic to regain consciousness._

"D'ohhhh, what hit me?" Sonic moaned.

"I thought you'd ask that!" said Knuckles, with an overly chipper smile.  
"But the answer is pretty easy to figure out if you think about it."

_Sonic's eyes focused on his assailant._

"I mean, who else could have taken you down with a giant-fist attack?" asked Knuckles.  
"Give me their name and I'll sue 'em! All my moves are registered trademarks y'know."

_Sonic was not amused. He cut himself out of the flimsy ropes and jumped on Knuckles!_

"You couldn't beat me in a fair fight if a ton of grapes depended on it!" Sonic yelled as he punched Knuckles. **(Ton of grapes? Yes, this is an odd reference to the old Sonic 3 instruction booklet, which reveals that Knuckles' favorite food is "fruit, especially grapes".)**

"Oof!" Knuckles huffed.

_He rubbed his snout as he quickly recovered from the minor blow._

"I oughta beat the digested chili dogs out of you!" Knuckles growled.  
"But I won't, 'cause I brought you here for a reason..."

_Knuckles motioned his gloved hand to the other side of the room where the Chaotix all stood._

"...to be judged by this impartial jury!" said Knuckles.

_Sonic would be judged by Charmy Bee and Espio the Chameleon along with a crocodile named Vector and a red armored armadillo named Mighty; both of whom were growling angrily._

"Grrrr! Where's the guy you told us to vote guilty?!" asked Mighty.  
"Lemme at him!"

"Look Knuckles," began Sonic.  
"If you think I'm going along with another stupid trial, you're dumber than you are ugly! I oughtta..."

"Oh? A threat?" Knuckles observed, with a jeering smile.  
"Bailiff Mighty! the prisoner is trying to escape!"

_Without hesitation, Mighty knocked Sonic over the head._

**BASH!**

_Sonic went down._

_Knuckles knelt down next to Sonic and addressed the jury._

"So boys, whad'ya suppose the verdict is on this lowlife?" he asked them.

"GUILTY!" they all said at once.

_All except for Charmy..._

"Whatever happened to the part where we give him a fair trial?" asked Charmy.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" said Knuckles.  
"Take the prisoner over to the defendant's chair, and _**then**_ vote him guilty!" he instructed.

"You got it boss!" said the "impartial" jury, as they carried Sonic to the corner of the room and tossed him on a seat.

"GUILTY!" they all repeated.

"This is pathetic!" said Charmy.  
"Let me take over so we can do this right."

Later...

_Charmy had put on an oversized judge's robe and had the others set up a podium for him. Then he instructed them to move some bleachers in for the jury to sit in._

"First of all, we really need to diversify the jury a bit," said Charmy.  
"It would be almost impossible to get a truly impartial jury, considering Knuckles' influential position on the island. But let's at least allow some non-Chaotix to sit on the jury."

_Charmy waved his hand and a few other islanders came in. He had rounded them up himself._

"Sonic also has the right to an attorney," said Charmy.  
"I've invited his buddy Tails to represent him."

_Charmy motioned for Tails to enter the courtroom._

"I've got a few things I want to say on Sonic's behalf!" said Tails.

"Very well," said Charmy.  
"And Knuckles will have to present evidence to support his accusations."

"Aw c'mon Charmy!" Knuckles protested.  
"We all know he did it! You guys can trust me!"

"We have to know what it is that you think Sonic is guilty of in the first place!" said Charmy.

"What are you even here for, Charmy?!" asked Knuckles.  
"Weren't you supposed to be dead in the last story?!"

_As soon as Knuckles spoke those words, a hand appeared in the window behind Charmy, holding a gun!_

"LOOK OUT!" some people screamed.

**ZAP!**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Charmy shrieked as he was fried like a fly on a bug-zapper.

_Up at the window stood none other than Nack the Weasel!_

"Drat! I missed Sonic & Knuckles," said Nack.

"Nack!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I thought I'd killed that guy!" said Knuckles, as he flipped a nearby security switch.  
"Better make sure this time!" he said as he glided towards Nack.

"Yeah! Lets get him!" agreed Sonic, as he rolled into a spin dash.

"It won't be so easy to catch me!" Nack gloated.  
"I had Robotnik's goons fix me up with some cybernetics and new gadgets. With my jet-boots turned up to full speed, you'll never catch up!"

_As he flew away, Nack knew that the fuel in his jet-boots wouldn't last for long at full speed. But he also knew that they would probably give up chasing him if he got enough of a head start._

"I have at least enough fuel to get off the island shore," Nack thought to himself.  
"With the island grounded like this, I'll be back on Mobius in no time. I'll just slip into the thick mainland jungles right across from the island."

_But Sonic & Knuckles were still pursuing him! Nack decided to dissuade them._

"Face it! You just can't catch the weasel!" Nack taunted.  
"Why don't you go back to your courtroom! I left a little surprise there for you!"

_He turned around to face them so he could get their reactions, but he kept flying away from them, backwards._

"That's right! The whole place is going up in smokes in a few short minutes," said Nack.

_Sonic & Knuckles looked at each other questioningly._

"Just face it! You've lost!" said Nack, as he continued flying backwards.  
"I'm almost off the island shore, and you'll never find me once I'm in the Mobian Jungle! So don't bother trying to follow me!"

"He sure seems desperate for us to stop following him!" Sonic observed.  
"How much fuel do ya think those jet boots have?"

"Hmm, that's a good question!" Knuckles agreed, with a smirk.

"You can keep chasing me if you want, 'cause I got plenty of fuel!" Nack bluffed.  
"But you might as well give up now!"

"You know what?" said Knuckles.  
"I think we should let him have his way!"

"Sounds fair to me," said Sonic.

_Both he and Knuckles put on the brakes._

"Those chumps bought it!" Nack chuckled to himself as he zoomed over the horizon backwards.  
_He turned around to see where he was going._

"Another daring escape by Nack the Weasel!" said Nack.  
"Er, I mean Fang!" he corrected himself.  
"Aha! There's the island shore up ahead. But where's the jungle??"

_At that moment, Nack zoomed off the island. But instead of jungle he saw nothing but clouds!!_

"Waitaminute!" Nack gasped in horror.  
"The island is floating again!!"

_Immediately, his boots ran out of fuel and he plummeted hundreds of feet bellow with the loudest crash._

**KER-THUD!**

_Meanwhile Sonic & Knuckles talked the whole matter over._

"Do you suppose he knew that I flipped that switch to set the island from hover mode to soaring mode?" Knuckles chuckled.

"No, I don't think he did," Sonic grinned.  
"That's the end of Super Villain Fang."

The End.

* * *

Thank you for reading.

Click on my profile if you're interested in reading my epilogue speech.  
And remember, I would love to hear your comments, questions, and reviews for this story. Thanks again.


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